As a mathematician, I appreciate any picture book that communicates the notion of classes of objects, which Marthe Jocelyn's Sam Sorts does very well. It opens 'Sam's things are in a heap. Time to tidy up.' But how?

Sam counts legs on stuffed animals that have them. He separates rocks and round things from those that come in pairs. He matches objects that rhyme (like cat and bat); striped things; those with dots and holes; and sorts by color.

Then he starts making up categories, like soft or pointy - the reader is challenged to add to them. I liked this one - 'Some things Sam bites. And some things bite Sam.'

Sam's sorting gives him ideas for play, which takes us back to the beginning - things in a heap! This time, after he sorts, we're given a counting challenge: 'How many categories? How many things?' This counting book is a clever one.

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